Cincinnati Coach Mick Cronin Diagnosed with Unruptured Aneurysm

The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team will be without head coach Mick Cronin for the duration of the season as he deals with an unruptured aneurysm. The coach will act in an advisory role for the rest of the season, but will not coach in practices or games. 

Continue for updates.

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Cronin to Serve in Advisory Role for Rest of Season

Friday, Jan. 2

The University of Cincinnati released a statement regarding Mick Cronin's status for the rest of the season on Friday:

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University of Cincinnati Director of Athletics Mike Bohn announced Friday that head coach Mick Cronin will continue to oversee the men's basketball program in an advisory role for the remainder of the 2014-15 Bearcats season while dealing with a non-life threatening vascular condition known as arterial dissection.

For precautionary reasons, Cronin will not coach the Bearcats during practices or games this season, but will continue running the program, directing the coaching staff, game planning and recruiting.

"I have the utmost confidence in our coaching staff and players that we will continue to develop as a team and play Bearcats basketball," Cronin said. "This program is bigger than any coach or player. I don't want this to be a distraction but instead want the focus to be on the growth and support of this team.

"Please know I am doing fine and look forward to continuing to help our basketball staff and players in my new, but temporary role as the Bearcats' general manager for the rest of the year."

 

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Cronin to Undergo Further Testing

Tuesday, Dec. 23

According to ESPN.com's Andy Katz, Cronin will have more tests on his unruptured aneurysm. Katz provided more details along with a comment from Cronin:

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Cincinnati's Mick Cronin is at home resting and will continue to undergo tests for his unruptured aneurysm, the coach told ESPN on Tuesday.

'I want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to me,' Cronin said in a text message. 'Because we play [Tuesday], I want the focus to be on my team and our game. I am not in danger and neither is my coaching career.''

Cronin, 43, said he is listening to doctors as to the next step in his treatment. He will be away from the team indefinitely.

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Cronin Diagnosed with Unruptured Aneurysm

Saturday, Dec. 20

Cronin released a statement after the diagnosis, and he expressed no concern regarding the Bearcats' preparedness for the Rams.

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I appreciate the UC Health medical community for all they have done to get to the bottom of my issue as quickly as possible. Obviously, I am being held out of coaching the team for precautionary reasons which I fully understand. I have total confidence in my coaching staff and players that they will be focused and ready to play today.

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In addition to that, Cronin released a series of tweets indicating that he will be fine, but that he is also uncertain of when he'll be back:

Cincinnati athletic director Mike Bohn also chimed in and stressed the importance of Cronin receiving a clean bill of health before returning.

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The most important factor here is Mick's health, which is bigger than any game. We will support him and his family to the fullest extent and want Mick to be our coach for a long time. We have faith in Larry Davis and our outstanding coaches and support staff to lead the program today. We are blessed to have an outstanding medical team here at UC and thank them for their efforts.

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Cronin has received well wishes from many, including Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated:

Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports added that Cronin may be fortunate that the aneurysm isn't even more serious than it is:

Cronin has been Cincinnati's head coach since 2006, and he has led the Bearcats to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past four seasons. They are once again on pace to achieve that goal with a record of 7-2 in 2014-15.

There is no timetable for Cronin's return, but there is no question that Cincinnati is talented enough to excel until he is medically cleared.

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